Did Dylan Draw Dicks?

American Vandal is a satirical series about a case of vandalism at Hanover High School in California. In the first episode, “Vandalism and Vulgarity,” we find the main character, Dylan Maxwell, accused of painting dicks on the high school staff’s cars. However, Dylan and his friends claim that he was nowhere near the scene at the time of the incident. The school board investigated and decided to expel Dylan on the accounts of his class behavior and an apparent witness. Peter Maldonado works to find evidence of Dylan’s innocence.


“Vandalism and Vulgarity” utilizes an unsteady camera for the majority of the episode. Outside of the television reports of the vandalism, it appears as though someone is simply holding a camera. This homemade feeling makes the series more personal. It feels as if we are watching a serious interview made by a real student.


This episode opens with an interview. With a defeated look on his face, Dylan answers questions about the vandalism. The tone of his voice reveals his dejected spirit and annoyance towards the school. In the scattered pieces of this interview, he remains calm, but is clearly feeling hopeless. Jimmy Tatro, the actor that portrays Dylan, does an amazing job of convincing the viewer that he was truthfully by a classmate.


Because it is a satire, American Vandal adds subtle yet clever humor to break the otherwise serious vibe. For example, when the character Alex Trimboli recalls what he had apparently seen, the repeated phrase “*spray-paint noise* Dick,” just crosses the line into the territory of a humorous gag. The line itself could feasibly be said by a high school student being interviewed as a witness to a crime, but the duration lets the viewer know it is meant to be laughed at.


As well as drawn-out jokes, this mockumentary reveals its true intentions by exploiting a few stereotypes. First, we see they typical prankster of every high school: Dylan. He clowns around in and out of class and is a little too dense to consider the consequences of his actions. The other students interviewed for the character and narrator Peter’s investigation also fall into a stereotype. Most people think of teens as only interested in gossip and their image. All of Hanover High’s students fit this mold. Every interview shown shows an outwardly confident kid that is more than willing to spill the tea over the latest big event. These character tropes add an element of humor to the show to help poke fun at true crime documentaries.

Overall, “Vandalism and Vulgarity,” from American Vandal, does an excellent job of creating a satirical crime documentary.





Works Cited

“Vandalism and Vulgarity.” American Vandal, created by Dan Perrault, and Tony Yacenda, season 1, episode 1, Netflix, 15 Sept. 2017.

Bojack Horseman: Pilot Episode

  Bojack Horseman is an adult cartoon comedy that follows the life of the once been sitcom star and titular character Bojack Horseman.

The show opens up on a scene from his old sitcom called Horsin' Around before cutting to reality where Bojack is at an interview while drunk. This entire bit sets up a main theme of the show, the segregation of Hollywood glamor and reality. The interview only furthers this with Bojack attributing the shows wide success to, “People coming home after a long day of life kicking them in the urethra to watch a show about good, likable, people who love each other, where no matter what happens after thirty minutes everything is going to turn out okay”. In contrast to this when asked about his life he can not answer the question. This scene tells us a lot about Bojack, but the show just piles on.

We cut to the opening of the show that has Bojack waking up and moving through his day. Always blank faced and staring at the camera while the world goes crazy around him. Finally climaxing at a party where he falls in a pool seeming to drown only for the next shot to feature him lazily laying on top of a raft on the same pool. This opening could imply many things, but the one I got was Bojack Horseman trying to distract himself from the world, but ultimately failing by falling in a pool, and how he tries to ignore his world and reality by putting something protective between him and the pool. However it could also be implied that he finds a way to rise above his world by sitting on the very same pool.

Coming back to the show we see that not only does Bojack have issues, but so does the publishing company Penguin Publishing. This is the company that Bojack is supposed to be writing his memoirs for, that he never actually does. The company, run by penguins (high brow comedy there guys), has run into financial trouble after making a series of bad investments and lack of sales. Penguin Publishing is an obvious parody of the real world company that runs by the same name. This continues to drive the point that beneath the seemingly easy life of success and glamor, these are people with real problems as well.

We continue through Bojack's day meeting various members of the cast who bring up differing flaws and contrasts to Bojack. Todd Chavez, who is his free loading room mate, that acts only to fill up his empty time. We meet his ex girlfriend and agent Princess Carolyn who serves as another amusing dichotomy between Hollywood stardom and reality. Mr. Penutbutter, a golden retriever who has had the same life as Bojack, but is seemingly unaware of anything and must be stupid since he's happy as Bojack puts it. The final character we meet is Diane Nguyen, Mr. Penutbutter's girlfriend and Bojack's ghost writer, she serves as the outer person's view and somewhat naive to Hollywood's inner workings.

The show Bojack Horsemancis an adult cartoon comedy that follows the life of the once been sitcom star and titular character Bojack Horseman. I find the jokes to fall flat most of the time, and the comedy to hit the lowest common denominator. I do find myself wanting to watch more however. I have only watched one and a half episodes, and find myself eager to continue. I think it is do the the rather cynical and satirical nature of the show that makes Bojack Horseman an interesting character and show.